The Gustavus men’s hockey team was shut out for the first time this season as the Gusties lost 5-0 to No. 6 St. Scholastica on Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter. Five different players had goals for the Saints as they clinched the win with three goals in the third period. The Gusties outshot St. Scholastica 28-25, but Saint goaltender Steve Bounds kept Gustavus off the scoreboard by recording 28 saves. The Gusties dropped to 8-7-0 overall, as the Saints moved to 12-3-1.
Gustavus had several rebound opportunities in the first period, but were unable to gain enough control of the puck to get it past St. Scholastica goaltender Steve Bounds. After a Gustavus interference penalty late in the period, Joey Martini pounced on a rebound on the following face-off to put the Saints ahead 1-0 going into the locker room at the first intermission.
Jordan Chong gave St. Scholastica a two-goal lead when he deflected a shot from the right point past Gustie goaltender Josh Swartout at the 1:30 mark in the second period. Trevor Geiger and Matt Stengl were credited with assists on the goal. The Saints nearly went up 3-0 when Martini took a sharp angle shot that hit the inside of the right post, but bounced out of the crease. On the next trip up the ice, Rory Dynan got past a defender on a one-on-one chance. However, Bounds was up to the test making the save with his right pad to preserve the shutout. Neither team scored the rest of the way as the Saints led 2-0 after two periods.
The Gusties started the third period with an extra skater as St. Scholastica was whistled for a holding penalty at the end of the second period. David Martinson found Brad Wieck in front of the net for the one-timer, but Bounds slid across the crease to make the save. Gustavus put three quality shots on net with the power play and came up empty in the effort.
The Saints scored their third goal of the game when A.J. Tucker slid a shot along the ice that went between Swartout’s legs at the 2:51 mark. After St. Scholastica took a 4-0 lead, Jake Swansson came in to relieve Swartout between the pipes with 12:20 left in the contest. The Saints posted their final score when Trevor Geiger skated in alone on Swansson for the goal at the 14:42 mark.
Gustavus was unable to convert any of its five power-play chances, while St. Scholastica went 1-for-2 with the skater advantage. Josh Swartout suffered the loss after making 17 saves and giving up four goals, bringing his record to 4-4-0. Jake Swansson made three stops and allowed one goal in the third period. Steve Bounds tallied his third shutout of the season after stopping 28 shots.
The Gusties return to conference play next weekend in a key series against surging St. Thomas. Gustavus hosts the first game of the home-and-home series on Friday in Don Roberts Ice Rink at 7:05 p.m.
Box Score